Erardi: No way Bob Castellini concedes 2014

5:28 PM,
Oct. 4, 2013

Cincinnati Reds' CEO Bob Castellini watches his team play against the Pittsburgh Pirates' during the fourth inning of their game played at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. / The Enquirer/Gary Landers

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Undercover from prying eyes, Bob Howsam kept a continually updated board in his office at Riverfront Stadium that showed a consensus from his scouts (and him) of the 1-12 rankings of individual position players in the National League.

It was, in part, how the former Big Red Machine architect wound up with the World Champion Reds of 1975-76, who featured four 1's (Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose and Dave Concepcion ), a 2 (George Foster), a 4 (Tony Perez), a six (Ken Griffey Jr.) and an 8 (Cesar Geronimo).

Needless to say, with any kind of pitching staff, one is going to win a lot of games with a ...